Hal and I have been members of our local riding club since we moved here. . The club, and it’s various members have been a tireless source of advice and information over the last 3 years. . So this year we decided it was time to take our chance at their annual show.
It’s been a long time since I dipped my toe in the sometimes murky waters of the show ring. In her youth, Sapphire used to have a very successful in-hand career, even qualifying for Royal Cornwall Show. It wasn’t me who produced and showed her though, it was our yard manager at the time, Pauline. Sadly Sapphire’s Maast Cell Tumour problem arose just a few weeks before her county level debut, and killed her showing career dead. . A little while before Sapphire Dad and I had a big Palamino Cob mare called Bella on loan. We had her for 10 years, and in fact saw her on ear final journey. Over the years we did all sorts with Bella, and I used to show her at a local level reasonably regularly . This was between 15 and 25 years ago though. All the classes I did back then were under saddle. Things like Tack & Turnout, Best Combination, Best Cob etc. I did have some useful vision back then, but it’s safe to say that I did have some, erm, blind moments occasionally. I couldn’t see the rope that delineated the ring for a start. This didn’t pose a problem when the whole class were parading. It was a bit more of a challenge when it came to doing my individual show, especially in proper cob classes, where you are expected to do a short gallop! Nobody wants to be the one who runs through the rope! 😱 Another potential problem I had was the possibility that I might ride into a steward, or worse, the judge!😰 Thankfully it never happened. I also didn’t always those subtle signals that I was being called in, or being asked to leave the ring. Bella bless her was an old pro though, so we usually came home with a few ribbons☺️

The other thing that was different back then was that the majority of the shows I attended were within hacking distance of the yard where we kept Bella, so there was no need to even think about transport.

So wind forward somewhere between 15 and 25 years. 50%’ of me really wants to go to the Riding Club show, but the other 50% can list a whole range of reasons why it’s a really stupid idea. . How are we going to get there? I’ve got nothing to wear. I can’t go in the ring by myself, I need a guide. Other than Sapphire I don’t think any of the horses have ever been on the Showground before, so they might go daft. All my girls are natural and I don’t want to clip them or pull their manes. The show is on a day with a’y’ in it. I’m sure you get the picture. It turns out that none of these problems are unsumountable.

For my birthday, one of my oldest and dearest friends, Sarah, gave me a Robinsons Equestrian voucher. Enter a smart new pair of beige jodhpurs.with my boots and chaps, my old black velvet riding hat, one of Hal’s shirts, my old black tie from Bella’s day, a pair of black gloves, and a jacket borrowed from Amy, what to wear was no longer a problem. The Riding Club are extremely accommodating, and had no problem with Hal coming into the ring to guide me. Ideal👫 So only 2 real reasons not to do it left. Who to take? It had to be either Florence or Breeze. Florence is beautiful (I might be biased there), but if I’m totally honest, while I trust her totally when I’m on her back, I do sometimes find her a bit strong and bolshy when I’m on the ground. Breeze then? Well, I’m not sure. Actually, my mind was made up when we bathed them the other week (see my previous post “Unwelcome Guests”). Breeze actively enjoys being bathed, whereas Flo really doesn’t. . So it was going to be much easier to get Breeze show ready. We also know that Florence doesn’t travel very well, which leads me onto the biggest problem. How are we going to get there?

Hal and I have been fantasising about having some kind of transport of our own. It’s all a pipe dream. We can’t afford it. Hal has never towed before, neither has he ever driven anything bigger than a Shogun. Until Friday that is. He hired a self drive 3.5 tonne horse box! He picked it up on Friday morning so he could practice bribing it before putting Breeze on board. . Pretty bloody amazing for a man who suffers from severe anxiety. He also arranged for Amy to help us on the day, as neither of us has ever travelled a horse ourself before. When we’ve had to travel a horse we’ve always used a transport company.

Pony all washed and clean
Outfit all prepared
Horsebox on driveway

Looks like we’re off to the show!

Saturday was a beautiful day. The animals were shocked to say the least when I emerged at 5a.m.another groom for an already gleaming Breeze. Check and double check we’ve got everything we need on the lorry. Wash, cress, several nerbous wees . It’s time to load Breeze. Bless her, she walked up the ramp like it was an everyday occurance , and hardly moved for the entire journey.. Mind you, Hal gave her a very smooth drive. Breezd stood on the lorry calmly while we went to get our number, and basically behaved like a lady all day😊

We did 2 in-hand classes, Best Cob,Hunter, Riding Horse, and Best Veteram. True to their word there was no problem with Hal coming into the ring with me. It wasn’t even remarked on so far as I heard.

Bless her, she came fifth in both our classes! What a star😍

I suspect that somewhere in the dim and distant past Vreeze has done stuff like this before. She just took everything in her stride. This is a lovely friendly relaxed show, I didn’t hear a single bitchy comment the whole time we were on the Showground. Also the judge was lovely, full of praise and advice, and mindful that it was a very hot day. Amy, as ever, was a superstar. She really does go above and beyond. We also had support from Ben and his Mum Helen.😊

Thankyou Ruby Moor Riding Club for organising such a friendly, welcoming and inclusive show.

I can only take positives from the whole brilliant experience. It has reawakened my showing demon though😈😉